In a season Colorado State hopes is a breakthrough campaign, league media remain a bit skeptical of how good the Rams can be. The media picked CSU to finish fifth in a new-look Mountain West conference that is in the first of a two-year transition.

The MWC, which adds Nevada, Fresno State and Hawaii next season, is an eight-team league this year with the departures of Utah to the Pac-12 and BYU, which went independent. CSU is looking to bounce back from a 3-9 finish last season, with just two victories in conference play. Newcomer Boise State, which visits Fort Collins on Oct. 15 to face the Rams, was named preseason favorite to win the MWC title.

The career limbo of several former Colorado and Colorado State football players is near an end.

That labor settlement allows NFL teams to conduct their annual land grab of rookie free agent talent. Usually the undrafted players are taken within hours of the end of the draft. The labor dispute left all those summer camp hopefuls awaiting their future.

For CU, fan favorite linebacker B.J. Beatty and wide receiver Travon Patterson would be likely candidates for a call.

CSU’s Zac Pauga brings a dimension as a true fullback for an NFL offense while Scott Albritton is marketable as a long snapper if recovered from ACL surgery. Local favorite Ricky Brewer should also get a look.

Are there any civilian (non-football team member) Colorado State students out there with sub. 4.4 speed in the 40 yard dash?

CSU football coach Steve Fairchild wants to know.

Anyone who can beat CSU’s three fastest players — receivers Tony Drake and Thomas Coffman and cornerback Bernard Blake — in a foot race will be an honorary team member for the week leading to the Sept. 17 Rocky Mountain Showdown with Colorado at Invesco Field in Denver.

The challenge is part of Friday’s annual Rams Superstars Competition for the football team in Moby Arena. There will be a preliminary contest for students at 3 p.m. with the winner advancing to the 6 p.m. fill entrants must sign a liability waiver. The NCAA bans tryouts so there is no actual roster spot at stake.

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Another Minnesota transfer is on his way to Colorado State’s basketball roster.

Colton Iverson, a 6-10, 258-pound forward-center, has one year of remaining eligibility after he sits out a transfer year. He can practice and will certainly help 6-10 redshirt freshman Chad Calcaterra with his development.

As a junior, Iverson blocked nine shots against Bowling Green, but only 11 for the rest of the season. He started 11 of the Gophers’ 31 games, averaging 5.4 points and 5.0 boards.

Has any Colorado State fan wondered why senior forward Andy Ogide is the only Ram who ever wears a headband on the basketball court?

Let Tim Miles clear up the mystery. He told Ogide early in his career he could wear it only because he had the highest grades on the team. Now Ogide is taking graduate degree classes.

Well the first 2,500 Rams fans who show up for Wednesday’s 7:15 p.m. game with Utah, regardless of academic credentials or lack thereof, will get a free headband. Moby Arena doors open at 6 p.m.

The school already had senior night but the giveaway will be a special tribute to the likely first-team All-MWC honoree.

The idea came up a few weeks ago when athletic director Paul Kowalczyk said he would wear an Ogide headband. Keep in mind Kowalczyk is the epitome of a conservatively dressed AD. It seems to pain him twice a year when he has to wear the iridescent orange polo shirts for football and basketball Aggie nights.

He still brags about wearing an Afro wig four years ago for another giveaway. Odds are, Kowalczyk will be totally out of character a headband. Facing the side of the arena where the teams sit, Kowalczyk is a few rows up from the left side of the scorers table, sitting in an aisle seat.

Less than 12 hours after Colorado State upended UNLV 78-63, only 1,500 tickets for the general public remained for Saturday’s game with No. 9 BYU. Traffic was so heavy it briefly swamped the csurams.com web site.

Those seats were moving rapidly throughout the morning as fans are rushing back on the Rams bandwagon.

Two of the nicest guys in the coaching business — former Northern Colorado coach and Wyoming assistant Scott Downing and ex-Colorado State offensive coordinator Greg Peterson — have landed on their feet at Tulsa.

Downing will be assistant head coach for new boss Bill Blankenship. Peterson, who coached at UNC last season after he removed from on-field coaching duties late in CSU’s 2009 season, will take over as offensive coordinator duties.

The UNC staff was released at the end of the season.

They join another Colorado connection, Denver Johnson, previously announced as the new Tulsa offensive line coach.

Win or lose, Colorado State basketball coach Tim Miles is never at a loss for words.

Already the long established as the whistle-bleeped star of CSU’s own reality program on The Mtn., Miles agreed to take on fans’ questions for this week’s Fan Mail.

Miles has accomplished one of the most phenomenal four-year rebuilding jobs. Readers are encouraged to ask Miles about this, his best team, the prospect of at least four games this season against current top 10 entries San Diego State and BYU or anything else.

Hint: Miles said on Monday’s Mountain West teleconference call that San Diego State’s front line makes other college teams look like intramural squads.

Colorado State cornerback Shaq Bell, who started most of the season as a true freshman last fall, is in Arizona tonight along with many friends and family members for the BCS National Championship game.

T’Sharvan Bell, a sophomore Auburn cornerback, is expected to start against Oregon.

“I talked to him before and after every one of my games,” the CSU Bell told Rams athletic media relations chief Zak Gilbert.

The weekend was a good one for ex-Ram player and assistant coach Brian Schneider, the first-year Seattle Seahawks special team coordinator. The Seahawks advanced in the NFC playoffs this weekend.

Some consider Schneider, a former Pomona High School star, the top prospect if the CSU head coaching job re-opens at any time.

It’s that time of year when for four weeks I obsessively check rivals.com and scout.com every half hour for any trends, commitments, de-commitments and assorted other time-killers. Then I get my life back and return to clicking status updates from fifth-grade classmates on Facebook.

There are some interesting numbers on the rivals.com Mountain West football recruiting site. Not surprisingly departing TCU, Utah and BYU lead the league. Utah and BYU are gone next year and by the time Gary Patterson redshirts this class, the Horned Frogs will be in the Big East and not beating up on Front Range teams.

Speaking on the Big 12 coaches weekly teleconference Monday, Colorado coach Dan Hawkins dismissed any notion that facing Colorado State is a “no-win” proposition because CU fans always anticipate a victory in that matchup.

Colorado and Colorado State open their season Saturday with a noon kickoff at Invesco Field at Mile High.

Newcomers: None. Brought in an All-America a year ago in current sophomore Pete Kontodiakos.

Biggest losses: None.

Strengths: Kontodiakos has had a year to adjust to the college special teams rush as well as punting at altitude.

Weaknesses: The Mountain West is a punter’s league, owing in part to high altitude of the Front Range and Utah schools. Kontodiakos’ 40.9 yard average was eighth among nine starting MWC punters. He needs to improve his consistency.

What to look for: Kontodiakos has a booming leg and plenty of hang time. He will only improve. Placekicker Chad VanderMolen serves as a backup.